… because the fool can't remain silent.

Beetle Mania!

With the arrival of Diana Hutts-Aston’s newest title in her exquisite series— A Beetle is Shy— I thought it would be an opportune time to celebrate all my favorite beetle books.

Listen, I don’t love bugs. Especially not ones that venture into my house. But I do love a few other things that make this subject worth pursuing, namely trivia, art, science, alphabetized lists and vintage readers. Titles in this collection cover all these areas quite well. And some of these books had me in rapt attention far beyond what I expected. Beetle books make for excellent strewing titles since there is so much fascinating information to be found in this animal family…

First, as mentioned, is the latest from the Hutts-Aston and Long duo: A Beetle is Shy. I only own ONE of the books in this series, but as a homeschooler and as a curious human being, I hope to acquire all of them someday. Each one is a graphic feast and beetles are no exception. Couple the facts, lovely text and gorgeous art, and this is a book you will want to pass on to your children some day…

Jerry Pallota is an alphabet wizard. He loves creating alphabetized lists too and has a wonderful line of books covering a broad range of subjects. The Beetle Alphabet Book delivers large, colorful images and excellent nuggets of trivia for every letter of the alphabet,

This book is what kickstarted my beetle fascination. It had me delighted for the better part of an hour with its beautiful illustrations (stink bugs are beautiful people!) and curious facts. Did you know that 1 in 5 every living being is a BEETLE?!? Isn’t that just riveting?!

P.D. Eastman is at his finest in this old tale about mischief being righted. The wee firefly causes mayhem with his messages he lights up around the sky until a wise old owl corrects him… you really can’t improve on some of these old reader books.

I admit it. The only reason we love The Grouchy Ladybug (other than it being by Eric Carle) is that it lends itself so well to the arbitrary bully voice that I like to inject whenever possible into stories: “Hey you, wanna fight?” Yes, it teaches manners and how nice it is to share… fine. But I’m not really into stories for the moralizing. I just like to frolic along the pages with different voices.

Dung beetles. Behold. This is one of the rare times that I break my rule on entertaining “potty humor” in picture books. And that’s only because it’s educational to learn about how these unfortunately named beetles are able to survive and thrive off of the excrement of animals. Very well done!

Here is the classic book that’s listed on most bibliophile’s “Best Summer Picture Books” lists. The evocative tale of trying to capture the magical light of fireflies and the consequences that come of it. Fireflies and ladybugs are probably the most (and the only) well loved beetles out there…

Gail Gibbons has just never failed me yet. Ladybugs, like all of her informational titles, offer just enough information to engage children without overwhelming them. Perfect for leaving on the back of a toilet for a child to pick up and read! Ha!

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle is one of Carle’s lesser known titles but I think it’s just as much fun as his more popular ones. Follow along with the the beetle as he figures out how to the nail the landing on his click-jump.

What would one of my Top Ten lists be without an exception? This isn’t strictly a picture book… more of a coffee-table book actually. But it. is. stunning. If you ever doubted that the world of beetles and bugs could be a beautiful world, this is the book for you. Pheromone is a magnum opus. Check out author Christopher Marley’s website for a taste of what he does. This book would be an excellent inspiration to budding artists everywhere…